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The film "Boys in the Hood" focuses on racial profiling, gang and gun violence, and poverty in South Central Los Angeles. The main characters, Trey, Doughboy, and Ricky, have different paths in life. Trey goes to college, Ricky is killed by a rival gang, and Doughboy is involved in selling drugs and is eventually killed. The film shows social issues like police brutality, gang and gun violence, and poverty. Sociological analysis can change how viewers perceive these issues. The film also addresses racial discrimination and societal assumptions about low-income neighborhoods. The use of different perspectives helps understand the film's message. The social issue of gang violence is influenced by capitalism. The functionalist perspective sees crime as necessary for societal balance, while the conflict perspective sees it as negative. Symbolic interactionism focuses on how individuals view the economic world. "Boys in the Hood" accurately represents real-world social issues like crime, ga For this final project, I have chosen the film Boys in the Hood by John Singleton. I've selected this film because it focuses on racial profiling, gang and gun violence, and poverty. The film Boys in the Hood is focused on life in South Central Los Angeles, California, specifically low-income families. The main characters in the film are Trey Stiles, Doughboy, and Ricky. Trey, Doughboy, and Ricky are three close friends that live in the same neighborhood and eventually grow up to live very different lives. Trey is smart, does well in school, plans to attend college throughout the film, and at the end of the film, he does end up attending college in Atlanta. Ricky is an all-star player on the high school football team and has been recruited by the University of Southern California, but is eventually murdered by a rival gang. Doughboy dropped out of high school and is involved in selling drugs in a gang. He murders the man who killed Ricky, while Doughboy ends up being murdered at the end as well. Throughout the film, you will see many different social issues like police brutality, gang and gun violence, murder, and poverty. Police brutality is shown within the film when there was a break-in at Furious and Trey's home and reported to the police, and when the police arrived, the African American officer said racial slurs about the robber. Years later, the same police officer pulled over Trey and held a gun to his throat and threatened to blow his head off. Gang and gun violence is shown many times throughout the film, like when Furious' home was broken into in the middle of the night, Furious loaded his gun and attempted to shoot the robber. There are many drive-bys that happen throughout the film, some shown and some spoken about. Ricky was shot and killed by a gang member while walking home from the convenience store with Trey, which resulted in Ricky's death. Doughboy seeks revenge on Ricky's killer by shooting him and killing two other men. Poverty is shown throughout the film by the environment. For example, the housing is run down and you'll see the families struggling to make ends meet. The social issues can be brought to light and changed the way viewers see these social issues by sociological analysis. Sociological analysis will look at the social issues through perspectives, interactionalist, conflict, and functionalist. The functionalist perspective focuses on how society functions as a whole with things like gang and gun violence, poverty, and police brutality. The conflict perspective focuses on the conflict between those who agree and disagree on things like gang and gun violence. Interactionist perspective focuses on how those behave in certain environments and act differently in another. Boys in the Hood is a film that many perceived notions and biases surround. Boys in the Hood is a film based on life as an African American living in a low-income neighborhood. This film allows viewers to create perceived notions and biases that all African Americans living in neighborhoods are involved in crime, gangs, and the use of selling of illegal drugs. These perceived notions and biases create racial discrimination against those of the same race. The social issues shown throughout the film contribute to societal assumptions that individuals living in low-income housing, specifically those of the African American race, are surrounded by crime, gang violence, drugs, and murder. I personally do not have any assumptions or biases about those who are low income. Not everyone who is considered low income struggles with violence, crime, and drugs. Just because you do not make as much money as another person does not make you any less of a human being. The use of sociological theories help break down the film by using different perspectives or different points of views, which is important when changing assumptions or biases towards certain income brackets or race. When I started watching Boys in the Hood, I assumed it was going to be full of murder and violence, which it was, but not in the way I assumed. I assumed all of the main characters were going to be involved in a gang, drugs, and other criminal activity, but Trey was able to stay out of trouble and attend college, while life turned out differently for Ricky and Doughboy. Ricky had plans to play college football, but him and Doughboy ended up being murdered. Having the ability to watch the film for the first time and then again viewing it from a different point of view allowed me to see what the movie was really trying to show. For example, this film shows life as an African American living in a low-income neighborhood that is filled with violence, but viewing it from a functional perspective allowed me to see that yes, there is violence, but you can make the choice of participating in the violence or focusing on doing better for yourself. The social issue I'm focusing on is gang violence and crime. Boys in the Hood is a film with many different acts of crime and gang violence, and the social phenomenon influencing the social issue is capitalism. Capitalism forces society into two classes, rich and poor, and in Boys in the Hood, the characters live in poverty. Because of capitalism and inequality, the main characters Trey, Ricky, and Doughboy are left with limited options, life in the gang and violence, or trying to lead a different life. Doughboy chose a life in the gang and dropped out of high school and has been in and out of prison, while Trey and Ricky have chosen to go to school and attend college but often find themselves caught in the violence, like when Ricky was murdered. Ricky was murdered by a rival gang member while walking down an alley. Trey and Doughboy are faced with the choice to seek revenge of Ricky's killer, and Trey was on board until the last minute, but Doughboy went through with the plans. Later, Doughboy was killed in a gang violence incident. The key theoretical perspective that explains the relationship between capitalism and crime is the functionalist perspective. Crime has been around for many decades and has always had a place in society. Functionalists believe that society needs crime in order to maintain a balance and prevent society from crashing. Crime promotes social regulation by setting clear boundaries of what behaviors are acceptable and what behaviors are unacceptable and result in punishment. Crime also promotes social integration that brings society slash community together. Lastly, crime promotes social change by allowing individuals to push boundaries to find what is socially acceptable or not. Social change happens every day and crimes are evolving and legal reform is necessary. Crime keeps law enforcement jobs afloat. Without crime, there would be no need for police officers, prison guards, correctional officers, etc. One classical sociological theory that relates most to this film is the functionalist theory. Within the film, we see many crimes being committed like drive-bys, murders, robbery, police brutality, and many background shootings. Capitalism allows for an individual to have their own self-interest and not worrying about others, like a dog-eat-dog society. In Boys in the Hood, it is gang violence and other crime. It is shown throughout the film that regardless of the crimes being committed, everyone still functions just fine, which is the major point of the functionalist theory. Society does not fall apart when a crime happens. Society just moves on. Symbolic interactionism focuses on the meaning of social interactions. Symbolic interactionists believe capitalism as an understanding of how individuals view the economic world, social class. Symbolic interactionists believe that behaviors are learned through environment. In the film, we know the families are low-income, and you will see in the film members of the working class judge those who live in the low-income neighborhood. Even the police held a gun to Trey's throat during a traffic stop. Trey, Ricky, and Doughboy were raised in a life full of crime, drive-bys, and drugs. Doughboy, kept with a life of crime while Ricky and Trey tried to end the stigma surrounding low-income families and do better for themselves. In the Lumen Learning article, we view crime from a conflict perspective. Unlike the functional perspective, the conflict perspective believes that crime is a negative factor within society. According to the conflict theory, crime is associated with low-income, underprivileged individuals like those in the Boys in the Hood. Sociology Club article on the feminist perspective views women committing crimes as a way to show strength and power in how differently men and women are treated when committing the same crime and the punishment for the same crime. Crime, gang, and gun violence, low-income families, and police brutality are all social issues individuals face in the real world. Boys in the Hood does accurately represent crime, gang, and gun violence, low-income families, and police brutality in the real world. Over recent years, police brutality has been all over the media for the deaths of many African Americans or the use of unnecessary force. Police brutality was represented differently in the film, but still got the point across. Gun violence is a major social issue in the world today. America alone has suffered many great tragedies due to gun violence. Many school shootings as well as many other mass shootings in hospitals, malls, and movie theaters, etc. I grew up in a low-income household. My father worked two full-time jobs just to provide for my sister and I and still struggled to keep up with bills and keeping food on the table. Yes, I would still apply the same classical theory and complementary theory to crime, gang, and gun violence, low-income, and police brutality in the real world. In the real world, society functions with crime, gang violence, gun violence, and police brutality. When tragedy happens, like a mass shooting, we grieve, then move on, and nothing changes. We just function with it. The symbolic interactionism theory allows us to look at the environmental factors that could have influenced the individual to make those choices to partake in gang or gun violence or other crimes. The use of sociological theories can help challenge personal and societal assumptions of social issues in the real world by giving them a different point of view. For example, homelessness is a major social issue in real life, and it is often that people just assume they choose that lifestyle. The functionalist theory allows us to see how society as a whole functions with homelessness. Society has normalized it. The complex theory allows us to be those who are trying to find a solution to end homelessness and those who could care less. The interactionist theory allows us to see how people interact with homeless people while some help while others ignore them. As someone who plans on becoming a social worker with child protective services, sociological theories will be used many times. Like when breaking down a case, sociological theories allow me to look at their social relationships, friends, families, peers, how the individual functions with their current issue, the conflict in the case, friends, family, peers, and how we can change the issue for their benefit. Sociological theories allow me to break down my own current career goals into reality, meaning things I can accomplish now versus things I can accomplish later, as well as anything that might interfere with reaching those goals and how I can overcome the obstacles. I think I most align with functionalist theory and low income. My family is considered a low income family for the state we live in. The functionalist theory allows me to look at our income versus our monthly bills and things we need like food and gas and budget accordingly. Boys in the Hood challenges and validates the social stereotypes of low income African American families in relation to gang and gun violence. There has always been stereotypes of those who are African American and low income find themselves stuck in a life of crime and gang violence. The movie validates that stereotype as Doughboy continued that lifestyle while it challenges it because Trey was able to keep his life on the straight and narrow path and ended up attending college. I think the film positively impacted society as it highlighted major social issues in low income African American neighborhoods. Boys in the Hood showed us what African American individuals in a low income neighborhood struggle with on the daily whether it is gun violence, crime, gang activity, or police brutality.
